Friday, May 20, 2016

THE government has warned greedy traders, who steal
from small scale farmers by overloading their sacks popularly known as ‘Lumbesa’,
to stop immediately lest they face punitive measures. This warning was issued
in the National Assembly on Thursday by the Prime Minister, Mr Kassim Majaliwa,
when responding to a question by CUF lawmaker, Swaum Sakala (Special Seats). Premier
Majaliwa also ordered Weights and Measures Agency (WMA) to make sure traders
observe the required package standards. He also called on Regional
Commissioner, District Commissioners and Regional Business Development Officers
all over the country to team up with WMA to make sure that the problem is
solved. In her question, Sakala said businesspeople were stealing from small
scale farmers by forcing them to overfill their sacks and still, they
(businesspeople) buy produce at a low cost.

This, she said was discouraging
farmers and some of them have lost confidence and decided to shun farming. The
MP demanded the government’s statement on solving the problem. In response to a
question by Lucy Magereli (Special Seats --CHADEMA), who sought to know how the
government support local entrepreneurs to produce and properly pack their
products with barcodes so as to attract wider markets, Mr Majaliwa said efforts
are being made to support them. He challenged the entrepreneurs to continue
improving their products to add more value and this will help them get good
price for their produce. “We have ordered the Tanzania Bureau of Standards
(TBS) and Tanzania Food and Drugs Authority (TFDA) to make sure these products
meet the standard required and are marked with Bar Codes,” he said. Mr Majaliwa
also told the House that the government was committed to make sure that it
continues to effectively implement National Water Policy, which seeks to supply
adequate and reliable water to its people. He also said that the government has
continued to make good progress towards urban and rural water supply targets in
Tanzania, insisting that the target to cover the entire country by 2025 with
reliable water supply was achievable.

CONSTRUCTION of the 5trn/- Mchuchuma coal and
Liganga iron ore projects in Mbeya Region is set to kick off this year, the
Minister for Industries, Trade and Investment, Mr Charles Mwijage, told a press
conference on Thursday in Dodoma. Minister Mwijage said already about 13bn/-
has been set aside to compensate dwellers around the mining project area and
soon after the exercise, the project will start in which iron ore and core
plants will be set up. He said the projects would be implemented by Tanzania
China International Mineral Resources Ltd (TCIMRL), which is a joint venture of
the National Development Corporation (NDC) and a Chinese firm, Sichuan Hongda
Group. About $3 billion will be spent on both projects. Minister Mwijage has
said that the Chinese company has a startup capital of 600 billion US dollars
and the debt finance will stand at 2.4 billion US dollars. Flanked by officials
from NDC and the Chinese company, Minister Mwijage expressed confidence that
the projects will be completed on time as their completion is expected to boost
the local economy.

Minister for Industries, Trade and Investment, Mr Charles Mwijage

According to the government, this investment will be the largest
single industrial investment since Tanzania got independence in 1961. Minister
Mwijage said the project will involve construction of iron plant with the
capacity of producing one million tonnes per year and construction of a 600MW
plant, of which 250 MW will be consumed by the iron plant and 350 MW will be
fed into national grid. Such production will make Tanzania the third largest
producer of iron in Africa. The two projects will create 32,000 jobs and
generate about 3.13tri/- per year. According to Minister Mwijage, Tanzania’s
stake in this project stands at 20 per cent, while the remaining 80 per cent is
owned by the Chinese company. However, Mr Mwijage said it was the government’s
commitment to increase its stake up to 49 per cent. Iron production is expected
to lift the country to the middle income category and make realization of the
2025 Vision possible. Iron ore is a vital resource for steel manufacturing
industries and other ferrous based industries. The explorations carried at the
Mchuchuma Liganga projects have already confirmed that the coal and iron ore
deposits will be mined for more than 100 years.

THE National Assembly on Wednesday this week approved
4.9bn/- budget for the Ministry of Works, Transport and Communication for the
2016/2017 financial year, with the promise that massive improvement of
infrastructure will continue to be given priority. Winding up his ministry’s
2016/17 budgets estimates, Minister Makame Mbarawa said construction of a
Central Railway Line at a standard gauge project was a reality and will be
carried out effectively. “We are fully aware that our roads will not last
without setting up a reliable railway network, that is why the Fifth Phase Government
is committed to constructing the central railway line to a standard gauge,” he
said. However, he said, to construct a 2,527-kilometre railway line, the
government needs 8 billion US dollars (about 16tn/-), which he said was
enormous and no country in the world could be ready to offer a concession loan
to carry out the project.

“The former president, Jakaya Kikwete, and I took the
initiative to visit China recently to seek a loan but the Chinese government
advised us to break the project into phases,” he said. He added that through
its own sources, they have decided to start with a 1tn/- project from Dar es
Salaam to Ruvu in the next fiscal year. “We have already formed a technical
team for this project and later, a tender will be floated,” said the minister. The
minister also said that withdrawal of US government support through the
Millennium Challenge Cooperation (MCC) programme has not affected road projects
that are being undertaken by the government. He thanked President John Magufuli
for his continued support and commitment to see to it that the country’s
infrastructure is transformed. The minister revealed to the august House that,
since coming into power almost six months ago, President Magufuli’s Fifth Phase
Government has already disbursed 1tn/- to his ministry to finance various
projects. On Tuesday this week, the ministry unveiled a massive 4.9tn/-, for
flagship infrastructure development in the next 2016/2017 fiscal year, out of
the amount, a sum of 2.2tn/- is for works sector, 2.6tn/- for transport sector
and remaining 96bn/- for communication sector. Prof. Mbarawa said from the
2.2tn/- set aside for works sector, a total of 400bn/- will be used to pay
outstanding dues the government owes various contractors and consulting
engineers, while the remaining 1.8bn/- will be spent on construction of roads. Clarifying
on the loss of 5.6bn/- as a result of delay to pay contractors and consultant
engineers, which is said to have accumulated from interest rates from 2011 to
2015, Prof. Mbarawa admitted that it was true but said it was due to lack of
funds to clear the debt on time.

AWARD 1

I won the second prize in policy category of the African Information society Initiative ( AISI) awards 2004 which is annually organized by the United Nations- Economic Commission for Africa ( UNECA) based in Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia. On the first photo above standing with other awardees after the Ceremony at the National Settlers monument in Grahamstown, South Africa.This was during the 8th Highway Africa Conference.The second photo shows the cross section of Jounalists from different African countries who attended the ceremony.

AWARD 2

I also won the AISI-GKP/SDC Media Award special reporting on WSIS process and Africa, and conferred with the award in Tunis, Tunisia during WSIS summit in 2005. See the photo above.

AWARD 3

Winner on the Media Competition on writing about " Stigma denial and Discrimination" associated with HIV/AIDS. This was organized by theAssociation of Journalists Against Aids in Tanzania ( AJAAT). On the Photo above President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete of Tanzania, ( then the Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation) was the guest of honour during the award giving ceremony.This was at Maelezo auditorium in Dar-es-Salaam September 2005.

AWARD 4

Winner on the Media Competition on writing about "Vulnerable Children" associated with HIV/AIDS This was organized by the Association of Journalists Against Aids in Tanzania ( AJAAT)

AWARD 5

Winner of the National ICT Media Award organized By SWOPNET in the Country. On the photo above Morogoro Regional Commissioner, Brigadier General ( Rt) Saidi Kalembo was the guest of honour during the award giving ceremony which was held at New Sarvoy Hotel in morogoro town.I was awarded a Mobile phone and a tape-recorder.

AWARD 6

I participated in the Media Competition in writing about VCT (Voluntary Counseling and Testing) in Tanzania which was held between July 15th and October 30th 2008 whereby I emerged among the top five winners. The competition was under the program known as “Tanzania bila Ukwimwi inawezekana” which literally means, Tanzania without AIDS disease transmission is possible”. This is a program which was organizedby the Association of Journalists Against AIDS in Tanzania (AJAAT) under TACAIDS funding. In the photo, I am being presented with a certificate of participation by the Chairman of the Tanzania Commission for AIDS (TACAIDS) Dr. Fatma Mrisho in a colorful ceremony which was held on 22nd December 2008 at Tanzania Information Centre in Dar es Salaam.

AWARD 7

AWARD 8

AWARD 9

I was among the top 17 best selected students who excelled in their final examinations of the 2010/2011 academic year and awarded with the Vice-Chancellor’s prize. I scored 4.5 GPA (First Class) in BA in Journalism. Above I am being given a certificate by the Chairman of the Open University of Tanzania Board of Senate. Standing at the centre facing camera is the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Tolly Mbwette. Extreme left partly hidden is the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) Professor Elifas Bisanda. This occasion took place during the convocation meeting, a day before the graduation day at the prospective permanent headquarter of the Open University of Tanzania which is currently under construction at Bungo-Kibaha in Coast region 40 kilometers away west of Dar es Salaam city.